What’s going down in the (free) Ars Open Lounge

Put your feet up and join us in The Lounge.

As we announced last week, the Ars Technica Lounge, which is normally only available to paying subscribers, is free for everyone for the rest of November. That means anyone with a forum login (e.g., the login you use for front page comments) can come in and join the general geekery and off-topic romping.

If you don't have an Ars login, it's super easy to get one, and guaranteed to be 100 percent spam-free. Simply go to this page, and follow the simple instructions. We promise your e-mail address is completely safe with us—no renting or unwanted spammage. We take your privacy seriously.

If at some point you decide you're hooked or you just want to know more about our subscriber benefits, you can get all that info on this page. No pressure, though: just hang out for the rest of the month, no strings attached.

Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "This all sounds great, but I'm not really big on following the forums. What kind of madness are we talking here?" Glad you asked! Here are some of the more interesting discussions going on in the Lounge right now. If they don't float your boat, just hit the main landing page to see what else is popping.

The Walking Dead on AMC: Are you watching The Walking Dead on AMC? Based on Robert Kirkman's excellent black-and-white comic books, zombie fans of all stripes are discussing the show in the Lounge. Spoilers should be tagged, so if you haven't watched yet and are just curious, the first few pages of the thread are probably pretty safe.

Ephemeral BBQ thread: If the fake ribs on the McRib aren't your bag, check out the discussion of the real deal. No pressed pork here, just genuine smoky goodness. You know you want to learn more about the Bacon Explosion and Bacon Cheese Turtleburgers.

Ars has historically had the Free Lounge from time to time to encourage subscription. It is a pretty standard idea "We'll give you a demo and hope you buy the full package." Not a desperation play. If you don't find value in it, don't try the demo. Nothing wrong with that, but don't read too much into it.

Aurich Lawson / Aurich is the creative director at Ars Technica, where he oversees the look and feel of the site as well as the day-to-day story graphic needs. He has over 17 years of experience in interactive design.